Drapery pleating, finishing and size control machine



. April 25, 1967 F. G. GETCHELL ETAL 3,315,852 I DRAPERY PLEATING, FINISHING AND SIZE CONTROL MACHINE Filed Got. 8, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet l //VVENTOR$ FREDERICK G. GETCHIELL JAMES W GETCHELL HAROLD K. TRUNNELL B) BUCKHORN, CHEATHAM 8 BLORE ATTORNEYS April 5, 1967 F. G. GETCHELL ETAL 3,315,352

DRAPERY PLEATING, FINISHING AND SIZE CONTROL MACHINE Filed Oct. 8, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 //V VE/V T05R51 FREDERICK 6. GE TCHELL JAMES W. GE TCHELL HAROLD K. TRUNNELL B) BUCKHORN, CHEA THAM 8 BLORE A T TORNE YS April 25, 1967 F. G. GETCH ELL ETAL DRAPERY PLEATING, FINISHING AND SIZE CONTROL MACHINE Filed Oct. 8, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FREDERICK G. GETCHELL JAMES W. GETCHELL HAROLD B) K. TRUNNELL BUCKHORN, CHEATHAM 8n BLORE ATTORNEYS April 25, 1967 F. G. GETCHELL ETAL 3,315,852

DRAPERY PLEATING, FINISHING AND SIZE CONTROL MACHINE Filed, Oct. 8, 1962 5 Sheets-$heet 4 I/VVEIVTORS. FREDERICK G. GETCHELL JAMES W. GETCHELL HAROLD K. TRUNNELL BUCK HORN, CHEA THAM 8 BLORE ATTORNEYS Apr l 25, 1967 F. G. GETCHELL ETAL 3,

DRAPERY PLEATING, FINISHING AND SIZE CONTROL MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 8

5 m E M 2 U a m 0 l 6 0 w 4. O 9 o O o O 7 0 WW INVENTORS. FREDERICK 6. GE TCHELL JAMES W. GE TCHE LL HAROLD K. TRUNNELL BUCKHORN, CHEATHAM 81 BLORE A T TORNE Y8 United States Patent Filed Dot. 8, 1962, Ser. No. 229,097 Claims. (Cl. 223-32) The present invention relates to drapery pleating and finishing and more particularly to a method of and apparatus for pleating, finishing and controlling size of draperies.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide means whereby a drapery cleaning establishment may reset, finish and size the pleats of draperies as rapidly as they are cleaned or laundered. Cleaning establishments of this nature usually have provision for simultaneously cleaning or laundering a plurality of draperies, but the manual operations heretofore required in finishing and resetting the pleats of the draperies have greatly limited the capacity of the establishment. The present invention permits the setting of the pleats of a plurality of draperies in rapid order whereby the cleaning and laundering facilities of the establishment may be used to their full capacity.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and means of the foregoing character in which a minimum of equipment is required for processing a large number of draperies in a short period of time.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means of the foregoing character in which a laundered drapery may be accurately stretched to its required length.

The objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from inspection of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the pleating and finishing machine of the present invention, set up for use in association with a treating cabinet;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the pleating machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the pleating machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial view in elevation, on an enlarged scale, of a hanger bar and drapery clamping means of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and showing the drapery clamping means in opened condition;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showig the drapery clamping means in clamping condition;

FIG. 7 is a partial view in perspective of the bar and drapery clamping means having a drape associated therewith;

FIG. 8 is a vertical FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a vertical section of the pleating frame in open condition and taken along line 99 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a vertical section taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a vertical section taken along line 11-11 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 12 is a vertical section taken along line 12-12 of FIG. 3.

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for pleating, finishing and controlling size of draperies in which pleats are formed in a drapery, the drapery is tensioned, and the drapery is moistened and dried while under tension to set the pleats and control section taken along line 8-8 of 3,315,852 Patented Apr. 25, 1967 ice the size. The apparatus preferably includes a first clamp means clamping one end of a drapery and a second clamp means clamping the other end of the drapery together with means urging the' clamp means apart to tension the drapery. The drapery may be finished while so clamped by applying a mixture of steam and .a treating solution such as, for example, a polyvinyl compound to the drapery.

The main portions of the pleating machine comprise a frame 10 (FIG. 1) including a spaced pair of vertical, parallel guide means 11, upon which frame there are mounted for vertical movement a horizontal upper clamp 9 including a supporting bar 13, which forms an upper support means, extending between the upper portions of the guide means 11 and guided thereby for vertical movement, and a horizontally extending lower clamp or pleating frame 14 extending between the guide means 11 and guided thereby for vertical movement. The frame includes a base construction 15 of any suitable character adapted to hold the upright guide means in stable condition and supported by casters 20. The frame is preferably placed closely adjacent a treating cabinet 16 comprising a boxlike enclosure which may be opened at one side as by means of a door '17. The treating cabinet is provided with guide tracks 18 for guiding the frame 10 into the cabinet for steaming or spray treatment involving the use of setting fluids. Preferably the treating cabinet is provided with a manifold or spray 16a for spraying steam and the setting fluid into the drapery. A blower type heater 16b is provided at the top of the cabinet for blowing hot air through the drapery to dry it. Draperies which have been laundered may be clamped by drapery clamping devices or loader means generally indicated at 19 which are suspended from the bar 13 and are rotatable on the bar. As draperies are removed from a laundry machine they may be supported upon any suitable table or other surface while the upper edges of the draperies are clamped to the clamping devices 19, as seen in FIG. 7 for example.

Each of the guide means 11 preferably comprises a vertical channel member having inwardly turned flanges 21 (FIG. 3) at their longitudinal edges which define opposed vertical slots facing inwardly of the frame. The bar 13 is fixed rigidly and keyed at each end respectively to a vertically guided trolley 24 engaged in the guide means 11, each guided trolley comprising a body 25 supporting a plurality of guided wheels 26 engaged in the guide means 11 so that the bar is readily movable vertically toward and away from the upper portion of the frame. The upper end of each body 25 is attached to a cable 27 respectively guided about idler pulleys 28 at the top of the frame, one of the cables extending horizontally across the top of the frame and the two cables extending downward alongside one of the guide means, being connected at their lower ends to a winch cable 30 which passes about an idler pulley 31 and then upward to a suitable winch 32. The winch may be rotated by means of a handle, and winch dogging means (not shown) may set the winch drum so as to hold the bar 13 at any desired position. The supporting bar 13 may be provided with a pointer 34 at one end movable past a scale 36 on one of the guide means 11, so that the bar 13 may be lowered to the pleating frame 14 and then raised to an index position at a known height with. respect to the frame 14.

Each of the drapery clamping means comprises a channel 40 (FIGS. 4 to 6) to which are afiixed a plurality of hooks or hangers 41 rotatable on the supporting bar 13 and serving as connecting means for securing the loader means 19 to the upper support means 13. A plurality of fixed clamping members 42 project downwardly from the channel member or bar 40, each being provided with a serrated surface 43 intermediate its length. A plurality of spring clamping fingers 44 are mounted on the bar 40, the fingers being biased to spring outwardly as seen in FIG. 5 so that the portions of a drapery normally engaged by drapery hooks may be slipped between the fingers 42 and 44. Brackets 45 on the bar 40 hold the fingers 44 in position and rotatably mount an operating shaft 46 which extends across and in front of the spring fingers 44. The shaft is provided with a longitudinally extending dwell or flat 47 and a handle 48 extending outwardly from the shaft may be thrown to a horizontal position as seen in FIG. 5 so as to place the surface 47 in contact with the spring fingers 44, thereby releasing the drapery and permitting the insertion of another drapery. When the handle is thrown from its horizontal position either upwardly as seen in FIG. 6 or downwardly, the spring fingers clamp the drapery material against the fixed members 42. As seen in FIG. 7 supplementary spring clips 50 may be provided to hold the end portions of a drapery, each such spring clip 50 being attached to a book 51 which may embrace the bar 13.

The pleating frame or lower clamp 14 (FIG. 3) comprises a pair of end plates 55, to each of which is attached a trolley including a carriage body 56 supporting a plurality of wheels 57 engaged in the guide 11 beneath the supporting her 13 whereby the pleating frame is guided for vertical movement from and toward the supporting bar. Each body 56 is attached at its upper end to a cable 60 (FIGS. 2 and 3) which extends upward over an idler pulley 61 at the top of the frame and downward into a tubular guide 62 extending alongside of the guide means 11, the end of the cable supporting a counterweight 63 which slides up and down within the tubular guide 62. The weights 63 do not overcome the entire weight of the pleating carriage 14, so that if the carriage should be manually released it will drop to a lower position as determined by latching plates 59 fixed to the base 15. Preferably one end of the carriage is provided with a pointer 65 which moves past scale 66, and the carriage arresting abutments may be set so that the weight exerted by the carriage in tension against a drapery clamped between the supporting means 19 and the carriage 14 will stretch that drapery to its desired length. Also, weights 58 may be hung from the carriage 14 if desired.

The plates 55 are connected together rigidly by means of a plurality of bars, there being a bar 67 (FIGS. 8-10) between the front lower corners, a bar 68 between the rear lower corners thereof and a bar 69 between the rear upper corners thereof. A latching sleeve 76 has hooks or latches 77 adapted to book under the latching plates 59, the sleeve 76 being slidable on the rod or bar 67.

The pleating frame 14 comprises a plurality of pleating paddles 70, the paddles being relatively thin horizontally and wide in the vertical dimension and having rounded free ends. The paddles are fixed in parallel, transverse, spaced-apart relation upon paddle mounting means comprising a bar 71 extending transversely between the plates 55 and afilxed at its ends to brackets 72. The lower and inner ends of the brackets 72 are pivotally affixed to the plates 55 by pivot bolts 73, and the upper outer ends of the brackets 72 support link pivot bolts 74 which extend through arcuate slots 75 in the plates 55 which are concentric with respect to the pivot bolts 73. The paddles 70 may therefore be moved simultaneously from vertical positions in which the bolts 74 are at the [bottoms of slots 75, in which positions the paddles are inactive or open and swung to the side of a drapery suspended from the bar 13, or may be moved simultaneously into active or closed positions extending horizontally inward into the pleats of a drapery from one side thereof. When the paddles 71) are in their inactive positions when the pleating frame is at the bottom of the supporting frame, the bar 67 at the front of the pleating frame may be manually engaged to lift the pleating frame up to a position closely beneath the bar 13, whereupon the the pleating paddles may be swung into the pleats.

The pleating frame also supports a plurality of pleating or clamping fingers (FIGS. 11 and 12), which fingers are elliptical in cross section, having a minor dimension such that when the minor dimension extends horizontally the fingers 80, when inserted into the pleats of the drapery from the opposite side thereof, will not grip the fabric against the pleating paddles '70, and a major dimension such that, when turned to a more horizontal position, the fabric will be gripped between the interdigitated pleating paddles and pleating fingers.

The pleating fingers 80 are all mounted upon a supporting bar 81, the ends of which are fastened to brackets 82. The lower corner of each bracket 82 is pivotally mounted on the end plate 55 by a pivot bolt 83. The upper corner of each bracket 82 supports a link pivot bolt 84 which extends outward through an arcuate slot 85 in the end plate 55 and which is concentric with respect to the pivot bolt 83. The pleating fingers 80 may therefore be moved simultaneously from an inactive position extending vertically alongside a suspended drape to an active position extending horizontally and interdigitated with the pleating paddles 70.

Each pleating finger 80 is provided with a cylindrical mounting end which is journaled in a bushing 91 supported in the bar 81. The outer end of each finger 80 is keyed to a crank link 92, all of which extend upwardly parallel to each other and are pivotally connected at their upper ends to an operating link 93, a central one of the crank links, however, extending upwardly and providing an operating handle 94. The operating handle rests upon a support rod 95 which is fixed to the upper edge of the bar 81. When the operating handle is thrown to a limit position in one direction, as seen in FIG. 10, the fingers have their major axes extending vertically so that the drapery material may slide between the fingers and paddles. When the handle is thrown in the opposite direction the fingers are rotated firmly to clamp the drapery material between themselves and the paddles 70, as seen in FIG. 12.

Simultaneous movement of all of the paddles and fingers from inactive to active position and return is accomplished by an interconnecting linkage (FIG. 10). This linkage comprises a first link 96 pivotally mounted on the pivot bolt 83, connected at one end to the link bolt 84 and pivotally connected by a connecting bolt 97 at its other end to an intermediate link 98. The opposite end of link 98 is connected by a pivot 99 to one arm of a bell crank 100, the elbow of which is pivotally supported on the pivot bolt 73 and the opposite arm of which is connected at its outer end to the link bolt 74. Thus the operator may throw the lever 94 to the fabricreleasing position, grasp the transverse bar 67 with one hand in order to raise or lower the carriage, and open the clamping means by pulling down on the bar 95.

A straightedge 111 (FIGS. 8 and 9) comprising a downwardly facing channel 112 welded to rods 113 is provided just below the fingers 70 and paddles 80. The ends of the rods 113 project into horizontal guides 114 welded to plates 55 and mount the straight edge for movement from a retracted position to an operative position as shown in FIG. 8 in which the operator may use the channel as a gauge to keep the lower end of the drapery at a uniform height.

To insert draperies 116 into the upper clamp 9, the upper clamp is lowered to a desired height by actuating the capstan device 32. The clamping devices 19 are swung on the bar 13 from their full-line positions of FIG. 5 to horizontally and forwardly extending positions (loading positions) as shown in broken lines in FIG. 5, and the devices 19 are slid along the bar 13 to slide the shank portions of straps 41 into supporting slots 121 in brackets 123 fixed rigidly to the bar 13. The upper ends of the draperies then are pleated and inserted into the .1" open clamping fingers 42 and 44 which are then closed by swinging the handle 48. Then the devices 19 are slid out of the slots 121 and are permitted to move to depending positions by the action of gravity, the upper clamp 9 then holding the upper portion of the draperies in their desired pleated condition. The clamp 9 then is raised to its desired uppermost position and locked in that position which is indicated on scale 36 by pointer 34.

The operator may now raise the pleating frame vertically past the lower end of a drapery supported on the upper clamp 9. Raising the bar 81 in-terdigi-tates the pleating fingers and pleating paddles corresponding to the upper pleats. The operator then will tighten wing nuts 105 and then swing lever 94 to its clamping position securing the lower end of the drapery in pleated positions. He may now release the pleating frame 14 entirely and with whichever of weights 58 desired let the weight of the carriage 14 tension the draperies with the bar 13 at a desired height as indicated by pointer 34 on scale 36. Alternately, the operator may clamp the lower end of the draperies to the carriage 14, latch the hooks under the fixed latching plates 59 and then raise the upper clamp 9 to a desired height and secure the clamp 9 in this position in which the draperies are tensioned to a predetermined length.

With the draperies 116 precisely plea-ted and tensioned in the machine, the machine is rolled into the chamber 16, the door 17 is closed, and suitable automatic means (not shown) are actuated. This causes a mixture of steam and a suitable finishing, sizing or setting material, such as, for example, a polyvinyl fluid, to be atomized into the chamber 16 to moisten the draperies and thoroughly impregnate them with the setting material. Then, after from about twenty seconds to five minutes depend ing on the material of the draperies, the blower 16b is actuated for a drying cycle of from three to seven minutes to blow hot drying air into the chamber to dry the draperies and set the draperies in their precisely pleated and sized condition. After this, the machine is removed from the chamber 16 and the finished draperies are released and removed from the machine 10.

Having illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be apparent t-o those skilled in the art that the invention permits of modification in arrangement and detail. We claim as our invention all such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the following claims:

1. A pleating machine comprising an upright frame including a spaced parallel pair of vertical guide means, a bar extending horizontally between the upper portions of said guide means, I

means removably mountable on said bar for detach ably supporting the upper edge of a pleated drapery at a plurality of spaced points which are normally the points at which drapery hooks are engaged with the drapery,

a pleating frame extending horizontally between said guide means beneath said bar, said pleating frame comprising guided means at each end respectively engaging said guide means whereby said pleating frame may be moved vertically with respect to said bar,

said pleating frame comprising a plurality of pleating paddles adapted to be inserted respectively into the pleats of the drapery from one side thereof and a plurality of pleating fingers adapted to be in serted respectively into the pleats of the drapery from the other side thereof,

means on said pleating frame mounting all of said pleating paddles for simultaneous movement from inactive positions at one side of the drapery to active positions within the pleats of the drapery, means on said pleating frame mounting all of said pleating fingers for simultaneous movement from inactive positions at the other side of the drapery to active positions within the pleats of the drapery, said pleating paddles and said pleating fingers interdigitating when in active positions, and interconnecting means between said paddle mounting means and said finger mounting means for causing simultaneous movements thereof from their inactive positions to their active positions and return. 2. The construction set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said pleating fingers is oval in cross-section,

and said pleating finger mounting means comprises means for simultaneously rotating all of said pleating fingers about their longitudinal axes whereby said pleating frame may be moved vertically when said pleating paddles and pleating fingers are interdigitated into a drapery, or said pleating frame may be clamped to the drapery. 3. In a pleating machine, lower clamp means, upper support means movable toward and away from the lower clamp means, loader means provided with a plurality of clamps for clamping upper end portions of a drapery, and connecting means for securing the loader means to the upper support means for movement between a first position in which the clamps extend at an angle to the vertical and are convenient to insert a drapery into the clamps and a second position in which the clamps extend vertically and are adapted to suspend the drapery 4. In the pleating machine of claim 3, the connecting means including a plurality of hooks adapted to removably hook over the upper support means. 5. In a pleating machine, a plurality of pleating fingers laterally spaced from each other, a plurality of pleating paddles staggered relative to the pleating fingers, the fingers being spaced apart from each other a pre determined distance, each of the paddles being of a thickness substantially less than said predetermined distance and being of a width sufficient to clamp the sides of a pleat against the pair of fingers on each side of each paddle, and means for rotating the paddles on the longitudinal axes thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,699,010 1/1955 Reed 223-33 X 2,759,273 8/1956 Boyes 223-51 X 2,921,725 1/ 1960 Ditorrice 223-30 2,954,907 10/1960 Bird 223-30 2,974,432 3/1961 Warnock et al. 223-30 X 3,122,290 2/1964 Mitchell 223-28 3,147,895 9/1964 Boyes 223-29 X 3,154,228 10/1964 Klint 223-32 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, G. V. LARKIN,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. A PLEATING MACHINE COMPRISING AN UPRIGHT FRAME INCLUDING A SPACED PARALLEL PAIR OF VERTICAL GUIDE MEANS, A BAR EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY BETWEEN THE UPPER PORTIONS OF SAID GUIDE MEANS, MEANS REMOVABLY MOUNTABLE ON SAID BAR FOR DETACHABLY SUPPORTING THE UPPER EDGE OF A PLEATED DRAPERY AT A PLURALITY OF SPACED POINTS WHICH ARE NORMALLY THE POINTS AT WHICH DRAPERY HOOKS ARE ENGAGED WITH THE DRAPERY, A PLEATING FRAME EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY BETWEEN SAID GUIDE MEANS BENEATH SAID BAR, SAID PLEATING FRAME COMPRISING GUIDED MEANS AT EACH END RESPECTIVELY ENGAGING SAID GUIDE MEANS WHEREBY SAID PLEATING FRAME MAY BE MOVED VERTICALLY WITH RESPECT TO SAID BAR, SAID PLEATING FRAME COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PLEATING PADDLES ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED RESPECTIVELY INTO THE PLEATS OF THE DRAPERY FROM ONE SIDE THEREOF AND A PLURALITY OF PLEATING FINGERS ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED RESPECTIVELY INTO THE PLEATS OF THE DRAPERY FROM THE OTHER SIDE THEREOF, MEANS ON SAID PLEATING FRAME MOUNTINF ALL OF SAID PLEATING PADDLES FOR SIMULTANEOUS MOVEMENT FROM INACTIVE POSITIONS AT ONE SIDE OF THE DRAPERY TO ACTIVE POSITIONS WITHIN THE PLEATS OF THE DRAPERY, MEANS ON SAID PLEATING FRAME MOUNTING ALL OF SAID PLEATING FINGERS FOR SIMULTANEOUS MOVEMENT FROM INACTIVE POSITIONS AT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DRAPERY TO ACTIVE POSITIONS WITHIN THE PLEATS OF THE DRAPERY, SAID PLEATING PADDLES AND SAID PLEATING FINGERS INTERDIGITATING WHEN IN ACTIVE POSITIONS, AND INTERCONNECTING MEANS BETWEEN SAID PADDLE MOUNTING MEANS AND SAID FINGER MOUNTING MEANS FOR CAUSING SIMULTANEOUS MOVEMENTS THEREOF FROM THEIR INACTIVE POSITIONS TO THEIR ACTIVE POSITIONS AND RETURN. 